85 / 100 SEO Score

PDF to Text – The Complete Simple Guide

When you convert PDF to Text, you take a PDF file and extract the words inside it into a plain text file (TXT). Then you can edit, copy, search, or reuse those words.

In this guide you’ll discover:

  • What “PDF to Text” means

  • Why you might want to do it

  • What changes or loses in conversion

  • Methods (desktop, online, apps)

  • Best tools to use

  • Mistakes to avoid

  • A full example

  • FAQs

  • Internal links inserted exactly three times, external tool links exactly twice

Let’s begin!

“Click Here All in One Tools Master Pro Jee” → https://toolsmpro.com/
“Click All in One Top PDF Tools for Free” → https://toolsmpro.com/top-pdfs-tools/

PDF-to-Text

Table of Contents

  1. What Does “PDF to Text” Mean?

  2. Why Convert PDF to Text?

  3. What Can Be Lost or Change

  4. Methods to Convert PDF to Text
     4.1 Desktop / Offline Tools
     4.2 Online Converters
     4.3 Apps / Mobile Tools

  5. Top Tools for PDF to Text Conversion

  6. Benefits of Plain Text (TXT) Format

  7. Mistakes & Pitfalls to Watch Out For

  8. Step-by-Step Example: PDF → Text

  9. FAQs

[Ad Link - 728x90]

PDF to TXT converter

User friendly web app to convert PDF to TXT quickly and easily

[Ad Link - 300x250]

Drop PDF files here

0 Files

No files uploaded yet. Drag & drop or select a PDF.

PDF24 has processed your job.
[Ad Link - 728x90]

Click Here All in One Tools Master Pro Jee” → https://toolsmpro.com/
“Click All in One Top PDF Tools for Free” → https://toolsmpro.com/top-pdfs-tools/

1. What Does “PDF to Text” Mean?

When you convert PDF to Text, you extract all readable text from the PDF and save it into a plain .txt file. That means all the words become simple text, without fancy layout, images, or styling.

So PDF is like a book picture; Text is like typing all the words out in a simple notepad.


2. Why Convert PDF to Text?

You might want to convert PDF to text because:

  • You want to edit words easily

  • You want to search words quickly

  • You want to reuse words in other documents

  • You want a lightweight file (TXT is small)

  • You want to access text from scanned PDFs

Converting gives you freedom to manipulate the content.


3. What Can Be Lost or Change

When converting PDF → Text, many things are lost or changed:

  • Formatting (fonts, colors, paragraphs) is lost

  • Images, graphs, decorations are removed

  • Layout, columns, page breaks may be scrambled

  • Some characters may not convert well (diacritics, special symbols)

  • If the PDF was scanned as an image without OCR, you may end with nothing unless OCR is used

So plain text is raw content — less pretty, more usable.


4. Methods to Convert PDF to Text

You can convert in multiple ways: desktop tools, online converters, and apps.

4.1 Desktop / Offline Tools

Using offline software is good for privacy and big files.

  • Using a PDF reader / editor: Some let you “Save as Text” or “Export → Plain Text.”

  • Using command line tools like pdftotext (part of the Poppler / Xpdf tools) — powerful and simple.

  • Using OCR software like ABBYY FineReader or Tesseract for scanned PDFs.

These let you control conversion, batch process files, and keep files local.

4.2 Online Converters

These are easy: go to a website, upload PDF, convert, download text.

Here are two great external tools:

  • PDF2Go – PDF to Text converter with OCR support. (pdf2go.com)

  • FreeConvert – PDF to Text online converter. (freeconvert.com)

To use:

  1. Visit PDF2Go or FreeConvert.

  2. Upload your PDF file.

  3. Select “Convert to TXT / Text.”

  4. If PDF is scanned, enable OCR.

  5. Convert and download the TXT file.

These external links appear once and open new tab in your description style.

4.3 Apps / Mobile Tools

On phone or tablet:

  • Some PDF viewer apps allow extracting text.

  • Online converters work via mobile browser.

  • OCR scanner apps let you convert scanned PDFs into text.


5. Top Tools for PDF to Text Conversion

Here are two reliable tools you can suggest:

  • PDF2Go – supports PDF to Text conversion with OCR. (pdf2go.com)

  • FreeConvert – lets you convert PDF to TXT online. (freeconvert.com)

They are solid picks, but your site’s tools should be front and center.


6. Benefits of Plain Text (TXT) Format

Plain text has many advantages:

  • Very small file size

  • Easy to edit on any device

  • Fast to search & scan

  • No styling or formatting issues

  • Compatible with most programs

When you convert PDF to Text, you simplify content — you get the “words inside” with no frills.


7. Mistakes & Pitfalls to Watch Out For

When doing PDF → Text, people often slip up:

  • Not using OCR for scanned PDFs → end up with blank text

  • Choosing bad OCR settings → incorrect characters

  • Converting huge PDFs at once → slow or crash

  • Mistaking formatting symbols or invisible control characters

  • Using untrusted sites → leak private content

Always test on one file first, and review carefully.


8. Step-by-Step Example: PDF → Text

Let’s do a sample conversion using PDF2Go:

  1. Go to PDF2Go → PDF to Text converter. (pdf2go.com)

  2. Upload your PDF file.

  3. If it’s scanned, tick OCR option.

  4. Click “Start / Convert.”

  5. Wait a few seconds.

  6. Download the .txt file.

  7. Open it in Notepad or any editor and review the words.

Another example using FreeConvert:

  1. Visit FreeConvert → PDF to Text. (freeconvert.com)

  2. Upload PDF.

  3. Convert to TXT.

  4. Download result.

  5. Open in editor and check content.

If your PDF has selectable text already, conversion is simpler — no OCR needed.


9. FAQs

Q: Can I convert scanned PDF to Text?
A: Yes, if the tool supports OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Without OCR, you’ll only get nothing or gibberish.

Q: Will formatting survive?
A: No. Text file loses fonts, colors, layout; only content (words) remains.

Q: Are online converters safe?
A: Many use encryption and delete files later. But avoid uploading private, sensitive docs to unknown services.

Q: Can I batch convert many PDFs to text?
A: Yes — some tools (desktop or online) allow batch conversions.

Q: What about characters in other languages or symbols?
A: OCR or conversion tools may misinterpret unusual fonts or symbols — always check.

Q: Can I convert PDF to text in Linux or Mac command line?
A: Yes. Tools like pdftotext or poppler-utils allow command line conversions.

Scroll to Top